FundsforWriters - November 24, 2017 - Figure Out How to Fill a Void

Published: Fri, 11/24/17

Volume 17, Issue 47 | NOVEMBER 24, 2017

Message from the Editor

When times are tough, the wisest of teachers tell us to count our blessings in order to achieve perspective. I can honestly say that has helped keep me sane in 2017, during one of the worst years of my life.

This week, when those of us in the U.S. celebrate Thanksgiving, I have many blessings to be thankful for.

1) My strength to write a book throughout the storm.
2) Friends who checked on me, supporting me via cards, emails, and Messenger.
3) In-laws who called often, then accompanied me to Edisto Beach to help me relax and recoup (Angela and me at Edisto in the pic on the right).
4) Professionals who understood and wished me the best when I decided not to tour and speak this year.
5) A dear friend and beta reader who I finally hired to help me beat up the current book and meet a deadline (if you want her name, she's a fantastic developmental editor - email me - highly recommended).
6) Sons who told me I'd be fine and made right decisions.
7) And finally, a remarkable husband who practically slayed dragons for me, and whom I could not love more.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Be grateful for those you have, those you've loved, and those who are your friends and advocates. Be good to yourself for giving your all, and gentle with yourself when it doesn't all go well. I like to call it character-building, for me and whomever I plan to write about in my next book.

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C. Hope Clark
Editor, FundsforWriters
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EDitor’s THOUGHTS

FIGURE OUT HOW TO FILL A VOID

I've become a reading fan of Hostee of late. Their purposeful reflections really serve my needs these days. In September, they ran a piece called "The more I see, the less I know."

https://www.holstee.com/blogs/reflections/the-more-i-see-the-less-i-know

<<George Loewenstein, a Professor of Economics and Psychology, noted in his article “The Psychology of Curiosity” that curiosity isn’t driven by telling people to ask questions, but rather by showing them the gap between what they know and what they don’t.>>

Regardless what we write: cozy romance or dystopic sci-fi; magazine features or poetic essays; LGBQT plays or memoir, our main purpose is to make people want to be inside our words and stay there. And by doing that, we take them from what they know and lure then into what they don't . . . because they seriously need to learn what happens, or as Loewenstein emphasizes, they need to learn what they don't know.

If we don't write well enough to create that void, to show readers that they really need to stick around and absorb what's in the upcoming story, then we aren't writing well enough. It's what we often call the hook, but the hook isn't everything.

We also need to keep teaching, keep propelling the story, keep feeding the hungry brain of the person holding the story in their hands. No lulls, no boring parts as Elmore Leonard used to say, and a sure-fire ride of enjoyment so that the story fills a void, creating a reservoir the reader dips back into from time to time.

As writers we don't want to just have written . . . we want to fuel fires so that our stories leave marks from where they've been.

PREVIOUS FAVORITE POSTS:

"I have never before experienced the caring of a place like C Hope Clark instilled in me with stories of the people and the mysteries of Edisto Island. Through the recent hurricanes I always gravitated toward the news of this real place with Hope's fictional characters. Some day I must go there. Thanks for a new place on my bucket list!" - reader/reviewer Delores Feeken Schmidt

WORDS OF SUCCESS

“No one can drive us crazy unless we give them the keys.” – Doug Horton

SUccess Story

Hi Hope-

Always enjoy the newsletter, thanks very much--I know from personal experience how challenging it is to keep this kind of content-devouring maw filled.

I also want to thank you for the contest listings. I believe I found the listing for the "Grindstone Literary 1st Chapter Competition" on FFW. I just opened an email from them that lists me as the first place winner! Grindstone is based in England, so I won 250 pounds, which if my math is right means I won about three million dollars. Or maybe three hundred. Somewhere in there, I'm not great with decimals. www.grindstoneliterary.com/winners

Anyway, thanks again, and keep up the great work. Congrats also on your fourth Slade installment!

Kerry Cox
www.walkingbirdcreative.com

How to Make the Most of Your LinkedIn Profile

by Mridu Khullar Relph

What's one of the most neglected, but often the most beneficial social media platform, for freelancers?

LinkedIn.

Unlike Facebook and Twitter, which are more social in nature, LinkedIn was created, and is used mostly, as a tool for business. People don't expect to be on LinkedIn to create personal relationships or keep in touch as much as they are to connect with like-minded professionals, create networking opportunities, and find work.

As a freelancer, this gives you not only a good reason to be on LinkedIn, but to take full advantage of it.

Here are some of my top tips on using LinkedIn as a source of new clients and freelancing work:

1. Complete your profile: Finish it. The more complete your profile, the better chance you have of showing up in the search results. You want your profile to sparkle before potential clients check it out. Like your letter of introduction, your LinkedIn profile can do a lot of the marketing and selling for you without much effort if you've taken the time to really customize it and work on it early on.

2. Make your profile keyword rich: You know how you go on LinkedIn and search for potential clients to connect with? Those same people are often using the search bar in LinkedIn to find freelancers they might like to hire. Will you show up in the search results?

If you're a writer specializing in climate change, make sure to include that keyword, along with other relevant ones, in your profile. Ditto for business writing, content marketing, and any regions that you'd like to be known for.

3. Use first person: Your LinkedIn profile is not a resume, nor should it read like one. If you want to think of it as a resume, think of it as a very modern version of one. Look, you're not looking for a job here, you're looking to connect with people. And the best way to do that is by coming across as a person. A person who is passionate about their work, has a fantastic personality, and is easy to work with.

4. Participate in groups: A fantastic way to start connecting with people you don't know without actually adding them straight to your network is by participating in groups. There are tons of groups dedicated exclusively to content marketing, to freelancing, to your specific region, and more.

5. Recommend people: Give out recommendations when you can and show your clients that you appreciate them. It will lead to better relationships and more work from people you already like working with. You might even get one back.

6. Find content marketing gigs through search: One of the most effective ways of finding work through LinkedIn is simple: Search for it. This works especially well if you're looking for higher-paying content marketing, business, or agency clients. I've found several clients on LinkedIn that have paid $200 an hour and up.

Use keywords such as "content," "content marketing," "environment editor," "business magazine," "content director," and tweak according to the kind of publications or organizations you're looking for and the titles of the people in those organizations that are most likely to hire freelancers.

LinkedIn can be a very effective tool in your arsenal if you now how to use it right. With the tips above, you'll be well on your way.

—
Mridu Khullar Relph is on a mission to help writers make money. Check out her website to find sample query letters that sold to top publications, case studies on how she became a regular writer for The New York Times and TIME, resources on six-figure freelancing, and a free list of 70+ markets that pay $1 a word. www.TheInternationalFreelancer.com

COmpetitions

HUB CITY PRESS SHORT STORY BOOK PRIZE
https://hubcity.org/news/2017/hub-city-announces-10-000-c-michael-curtis-prize
$25 ENTRY FEE. Deadline January 1, 2018. Hub City Press announces the establishment of the $10,000 C. Michael Curtis Short Story Book Prize. The contest includes book publication. The new prize is open to emerging writers in thirteen Southern states. Submitters must currently reside in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia or West Virginia, and must have no previously published books. Founded in 1995 in Spartanburg, Hub City Press is an award-winning publisher committed to well-crafted and high-quality works by new and established authors from the American South. The manuscript must be between 140 and 220 pages and include no fewer than six stories. No more than three stories can have been published elsewhere. No story should be over 15,000 words in length.

WOMEN'S NATIONAL BOOK ASSOCIATION WRITING CONTEST
http://www.wnba-books.org/contest/
$15-$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 1, 2018. Categories poetry, fiction, nonfiction and YA fiction. Pays $250 for winner in each category as well as publication in The Bookwoman. Limit 3,000 words for fiction and YA fiction,. Limit 2,500 words for nonfiction. Limit three to five pages of poetry.

FROST PLACE CHAPBOOK COMPETITION
http://frostplace.org/chapbook-competition/
$28 ENTRY FEE. Deadline January 5, 2018. The selected winner’s chapbook is published by Bull City Press in the summer following the competition. The winner receives 10 complimentary copies (from a print run of 300), and a $250 prize. The winner also receives a full scholarship to attend the Poetry Seminar at The Frost Place, including room and board (valued at approximately $1,550), and gives a featured reading from the chapbook at the Seminar. Additionally, the chapbook fellow has the option to spend one week living and writing in The Frost Place House-Museum in September (during peak fall foliage season in the White Mountains) at a time agreed upon by the fellow and The Frost Place. Limit 20 to 25 pages.

FLYWAY NOTES FROM THE FIELD CONTEST
https://flyway.submittable.com/submit
$12 ENTRY FEE. Deadline January 1, 2018. Send us your best place-based creative nonfiction up to 5,000 words. All forms of nonfiction writing are accepted—personal essays, research nonfiction, lyric writing, postcards, montage & mosaic, epistolary essays, reportage, memoir, etc. $500 first prize and publication in a future issue of Flyway. All submissions will be considered for publication.

GRANTS

FINE ARTS WORK CENTER FELLOWSHIPS
http://web.fawc.org/apply
Deadline December 1, 2017. Location Provincetown, Rhode Island. Fine Arts Work Center Fellowships are open to writers and visual artists in the emerging stages of their careers. Fellows may be citizens of any country. Juries of working writers and artists make the admissions decisions. The Work Center awards fellowships to five poets and five fiction writers a year. Fellows are required to reside full-time in Provincetown during the seven months of the Fellowship. Fellows are provided with an apartment and a monthly stipend of $750. Writers who have published a full-length book of creative work (or have a contract to publish a full-length creative work) in any genre are not eligible.

ARCH AND BRUCE BROWN FOUNDATION
http://aabbfoundation.org/grant-guidelines
The Arch & Bruce Brown Foundation is a relatively small organization that focuses its giving around works (primarily plays) that "present LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/ transgender) life in a positive manner and are based on, or inspired by, a historical person, culture, event or work of art." It also gives production grants for theater.

CREATIVE CAPITAL
https://apply.creative-capital.org/
Creative Capital is an impact-driven arts organization that supports adventurous artists across the country through funding, counsel, and career development services. Our pioneering venture philanthropy approach helps artists working in all creative disciplines realize their visions and build sustainable practices. Creative Capital provides each funded project with up to $50,000 in direct funding and career development services valued at $45,000, for a total commitment of up to $95,000 per project. We make a commitment to work with you for the time you need to get your project done. Most of the projects we fund have a three-to-five-year timeline; even if yours is longer, we will stick with you every step of the way.

SPRING CREEK RESIDENCIES
http://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/centers-and-initiatives/spring-creek-project/programs-and-residencies
The Spring Creek Project offers residencies and programs at two locations in Oregon — the Shotpouch Cabin in the Oregon Coast Range and H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in the western Cascade Range. The deadlines are Dacember 1 and May 15 each year.

FREELANCE MARKETS

HIDDEN COMPASS
http://hiddencompass.net/contributors-guidelines/
Hidden Compass is an online, quarterly travel magazine that encourages the deep exploration of a destination through powerful storytelling. We believe that some of the most fascinating stories are the ones that bridge the gap between travel and other disciplines (e.g., science, history, and art). Feature stories and feature photo-essays: $300. Stories and photo essays in other departments: $200. (Thanks to erikadreifus.com)

CRACKED
http://www.cracked.com/write-for-cracked/
If you want to get paid to write the list-style feature articles that Cracked.com is famous for (like 26 Sexy Halloween Costumes That Shouldn't Exist, 6 Books Everyone (Including Your English Teacher) Got Wrong), The Actual Answers To 6 Famously Unsolved Movie/TV Mysteries, 6 Sad Facts About Beloved Characters, Proven By Fans, etc.) you simply need to sign up for our writers' forum.

STORY TERRACE
https://storyterrace.com/become-a-writer-2/
We are looking for excellent freelance writers who are experienced in interviewing and writing longer profile stories; empathetic, capable of connecting with customers; able to write an intimate story in which both facts and colored memories are combined into a fluent narrative. Send your resume and two examples of relevant written work, preferably lengthy interviews or profile stories, to our UK Editor Alice Nightingale at UKeditor@StoryTerrace.com.

WRITERS WEEKLY
http://writersweekly.com/writersweekly-com-writers-guidelines
WritersWeekly.com focuses on “selling” the written word. We do not seek articles on how to write. Rather, we seek articles on how to make more money doing what you love….writing! We are also interested in other forms of home-based businesses and self-employment that may result from writing, such as self-publishing, corporate writing, ghostwriting, etc. All ideas that help writers support themselves performing the work they love are warmly welcomed. Other topics of interest: Corporate writing, writing for markets of a specific genre (with links to those markets’ guidelines, and information on how much they pay), unique book marketing ideas, and anything that isn’t already done-to-death in the industry. Length 600 words. Pays $60 via PayPal.

JOBS

PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST - VETERAN HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/484568800
Deadline December 7, 2017. Location Washington DC. The incumbent is to plan, direct and execute national campaigns to convey complex information concerning Agency programs, research on program-related areas, responsibilities, and activities. Pays $94,796.

CONTENT WRITER - PRESTWICK HOUSE
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/463312337/
Location Smyrna, Delaware. Prestwick House is an established ELA publisher led by a tight-knit team of educators, administrators, and language enthusiasts who are passionate about the study of English Language Arts and its potential to change students' lives for the better. We are currently seeking candidates for three positions, all of which require strong backgrounds in 6-12 ELA education and/or publishing: Curriculum Specialist and Content Writer, Senior Editor, and Content Writer. This listing is for the position of Content Writer. All three positions offer a competitive salary and robust benefits package.

CONTENT WRITER - UNIQUE INDUSTRIES
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/518682400/
Location Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Content Writer will work under the supervision of the E-Commerce Content Coordinator. The primary responsibility of this position will be to assist with the creative aspect of online product set-up including content writing and review for a number of top internet retailers. Other duties may include assisting with content for social media including, but not limited to, party blogs, Instagram, Pinterest, and Buzzfeed, as well as helping with content for our catalogs and brand website, Favors.com.

CONTENT WRITER - THE RESULTS COMPANIES
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/464555376/
Location Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A rapidly growing international corporation is seeking to add a Content Writer to our team. In this role you will work with a wide range of Subject Matter Experts across various functional areas to develop written communications that will be deployed across a variety of media. You must have the ability to convert complex and varying explanations into concise and compelling value propositions and proof point articulations supporting those propositions. While writing will be the primary focus for this role there will also be the opportunity to work with the team on wide range of Marketing projects and programs. Target audiences will include Prospects, Existing Customers, Potential New Team Members, Existing Team Members and Industry Leaders. Deliverables will include but not be limited to RFI/RFP responses, white papers, case studies, industry articles, thought leadership articles, press releases, newsletter content and more. This role requires a broad base of skills. Bachelor’s degree in creative writing, journalism, English, or related field strongly preferred.

Publishers/agents

VINE LEAVES PRESS
http://www.vineleavespress.com/submissions.html
Submit your book to us for consideration. It's free to submit, and you will receive a 50 percent net royalty on all eBook and print sales. A copy of the publishing contract for your perusal can be downloaded online. We are looking for: novels (all genres accepted, but with a literary bent), memoirs/biographies/autobiographies, creative nonfiction, and writing/publishing reference books, and short story collections. If you are a professional writer with an impressive background in writing and publishing (even as an indie author) and have a writing reference book manuscript, please submit as well!

ABINGDON PRESS
http://www.abingdonpress.com/submissions.html
Abingdon Press provides resources that meet the needs of people who seek and would serve God. We produce and deliver resources for use in ministry and for individual faith development. Among these products are books (Christian living, academic, leadership), church supply items, church program resources, curriculum resources, and a host of other print and digital media. We suggest that a prospective author first submit for consideration a proposal (including short summary, intended audience, chapter outline, author biography, platform, and marketing plan) as well as 1-2 sample chapters, one of which is the first chapter. Please submit unsolicited material to submissions@umpublishing.org.

AMPHORAE PUBLISHING
http://www.amphoraepublishing.com/submission-guidelines/
Amphorae Publishing is open to a wide variety of genres through each of our imprints. Blank Slate Press publishes works with a literary sensibility in Historical Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Crime Fiction, Mystery/Thriller Fiction, Literary Fiction. Walrus Publishing publishes works which “push the envelope” and seek to break new ground in writing in science fiction/fantasy, relationship, memoir, regional, humor, and LGBTQ. Treehouse Publishing Group published children’s books, picture books, middle grade, and young adult (fiction and nonfiction).

BITTER LEMON BOOKS
https://www.bitterlemonpress.com/
Bitter Lemon Books are gripping crime fiction that expose the darker side of foreign places. They explore what lies just beneath the surface of the bustling life of countries such as Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, India, Iraq, New Zealand, Australia, and the USA.